Rivertown United Reformed Church

I am the Good Shepherd and I recognize my own (John 10:14,).

You have probably been in a situation where someone, perhaps a neighbour or a relative, has talked about something that is exclusively hers. There is nothing wrong with such talk, unless of course, the purpose of it is to put down other people. This happens when one person boasts of family possessions as though no one else present could possibly own such things.

Actually we all like to have exclusive ownership of some thing. Its significant that among the first words a baby says are, ‘’Me and Mine.’’We tend to think of the personal pronoun as denoting selfishness. But that is not always so, or David the psalmist would be supremely selfish. “The Lord is my Shepherd,” he states with no smugness or apology. Then David makes great claims on the basis of this personal relationship. ‘I shall not lack,” he declares, outlining all the areas of his life (and death): his good times and the days when enemies would surround him. Were familiar with the words, with their beauty and simple grandeur.

But it’s not enough to know the words, to be able to repeat the beloved Psalm 23. We have to appropriate its truth; we have to be “selfish” and grab onto that my Shepherd. All the green pastures, all the peace and refreshment of the still waters, all the freedom from fear as we traverse the valley of the shadow, all the protection a shepherd affords each member of his flock—these and every other provision or peace of heart and soul and mind are reserved exclusively for those to whom the Lord is ‘’my Shepherd.”

The Shepherd Psalm offers continuing blessing: ‘all the days of my life.’ The Shepherd keeps eternal vigil (John 10:28-29)

Who is this Shepherd? Jesus answers the question of our hearts, “I am the Good Shepherd.’ He is my Shepherd, but you can make sure He is yours, too.

Thanks to David Coulton for this item